A look back at Meyer’s first 15 seasons reveals his teams are No. 2 in points per game
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Urban Meyer’s teams have averaged 37.4 points per game over the duration of his 15-year, 194-game head coaching career. Only one other coach who has coached at least 15 seasons has had teams score more than Meyer’s teams over this time: Bob Stoops; by one-tenth of a point.
Stoops has employed seven offensive coordinators over his career at Oklahoma, including Ohio State’s new coordinator, Kevin Wilson. Wilson will be Meyer’s seventh coordinator, and the first who was a prior head coach.
Five of Meyer’s previous coordinators went on to become head coaches. All six helped Meyer’s offenses and teams experience terrific successes. In six days, the Ohio State offense under Meyer and Wilson will start taking shape.
Highest Career Scoring Average
(Active coaches; minimum 15 seasons as FBS coach)
1. 37.5 ppg Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
2. 37.4 ppg Urban Meyer, Ohio State
3. 34.9 ppg Mike Leach, Washington State
4. 33.5 ppg Gary Patterson, TCU
5. 31.8 ppg Nick Saban, Alabama
Urban Meyer’s Offensive Highlights & Coordinators
§ Urban Meyer/Gregg Brandon – Bowling Green, 2001-02. 17-6 record; 35.7 ppg; 417.3 ypg.
Meyer’s first team averaged over 30 points per game and his second ranked third nationally in scoring (40.8 ppg), was the highest scoring team in MAC history and finished ninth nationally in total offense.
§ Urban Meyer/Mike Sanford – Utah, 2003-04. 22-2 record; 36.9 ppg; 437.1 ypg.
Meyer’s initial Utah squad went from last in the Mountain West in scoring to third at 28.7 ppg. His second Utah team scored 45.3 points per game and averaged 499.7 yards; both figures ranked third nationally with passing efficiency also ranking third nationally behind Alex Smith.
§ Urban Meyer/Dan Mullen – Florida, 2005-08. 44-9 record; 36.2 ppg; 418.8 ypg.
These four Florida teams averaged over 36 points per game, including Top 5 national averages of 42.4 ppg in 2007 and 43.6 in 2008. The offenses were among the Top 5 nationally in passing efficiency in 2007 and 2008 as well with Tim Tebow ranking second and fourth, respectively.
§ Urban Meyer/Steve Addazio – Florida, 2009-10. 21-6 record; 32.8 ppg; 406.2 ypg.
Top 10 national rankings in rushing offense, total offense and scoring offense and the No. 1 passing efficiency team in the nation in 2009 highlighted these two seasons.
§ Urban Meyer/Tom Herman – Ohio State, 2012-14. 38-3 record; 42.8 ppg; 486.0 ypg.
Ohio State set school record totals of 637 points in 2013 and 672 in 2014 while also producing the second- and third-most yards of total offense (511.9 and 511.6 yards per game, respectively) and touchdown passes (38 and 42) in Big Ten history those two seasons. J.T. Barrett was No. 2 nationally in passing efficiency in 2014.
§ Urban Meyer/Ed Warinner – Ohio State, 2015-16. 23-3 record; 32.8 ppg; 446.6 ypg.
Ohio State led the Big Ten in rushing in each season and ranked second in scoring with season totals that included the third-most points in school history (512) in 2016. Ohio State had 11 games of 40-or-more points these two seasons.